Anya looked at Buffy with a puzzled look. "So Angel's a pilot?"
"That's right." Buffy nodded.
"And Spike is a co-pilot?"
Dawn shook her head. "I think Spike is just one of the Hunters. I don't think he's a pilot."
"But he and Angel are friends, right?"
"Yeah, and I think Spike and Xander are keeping things confidential."
Anya frowned. "What do you mean?"
Xander said, "From what Buffy and Dawn told me, An, Xander-" he grins, "- that would be me- anyway, Xander has reason to believe Jon Levon is a spy or something, and he seems to have shared his suspicion's with Spike." He rubbed his forehead and scowled. "In reality, I'd rather put a stake in his heart than to confide with him about anything." He was thinking of what he had seen on the computer involving Anya and Spike, and he was also thinking about the attempted rape of Buffy. As far as he was concerned, Spike was number one at the top of his crapola list.
"Oh," Anya said meekly. She paused. "Well, why is Xander- I mean, why are you confiding with him then?"
Xander looked at her. "I'm not. My character in the book is. And I really don't know why 'cause we haven't even read the third chapter yet."
"Well, when are you going to read it?"
"When all of you kids settle down and bring the noise level down to a hush." He put his fingers to his lips. "Ssssh." He opened the book that Buffy had handed to him, thereby volunteering him to read the third chapter of the Hunters, written by Jonathan Levenson.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Chapter 3-To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Xander, c'mon! If you're going to read it, be serious. What's the real title?"
Xander glanced at her. "'Chapter 3- To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before'."
Dawn giggled. "I feel a little Trek coming on."
"I think Jonathan was a big Trekkie," Xander said. "Anyway, maybe the title of the chapter is just misleading."
"Well, read it then," Anya said anxiously. "I'd like to know where Man has gone boldly off to, especially since they've never been there before. Sounds kinda interesting."
Xander glanced at her. "Okay, An...here we go."
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) The Hunters had stepped through the portal, which they had begun to refer to as Paradox's Doorway. Going through the portal had felt like a roller coaster ride through a long tunnel of stars. It was fast and furious with billions of tiny, sparkling streaks of light that flashed by in an instant.
Riley came to a hard landing first. Landed was the word for it anyway for there was no other way to describe it. He came out of the portal, slammed into a wall, and crashed to the floor. At least he thought it was a wall and he was certain he was lying on the floor, but he couldn't really tell because it completely dark. The darkness was so thick, he thought he could slice through it with a knife.
Almost as soon as he had landed, something crashed into him, grunting, groaning, and cursing up a storm. It took a second for Riley to realize it was his partner and friend, Xander. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - -
Xander grinned. "Hey, I kinda like that. Me and Riley. Buds."
- - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Riley looked around, or at least tried to, but he still couldn't see a damn thing. "Hey," he groaned, "who turned out the lights?"
Suddenly, light slowly began to emit from the solid, cavernous walls around them. Rising to their feet, the Hunters began to look around. Riley slowly turned around, taking everything in until he came face to face with a hideous, snout-faced being with red eyes. He cried out in alarm, took a few quick steps back, and raised his Uzi to fire.
Then, he hesitated as he got a good look at the thing.
Xander laughed. "Lighten up, Power-Puff guy. It's only a statue."
"Man," Riley said, sighing in relief as he lowered his Uzi. He looked at Xander, and then pointed at the portal with his thumb. "Heluva ride, wasn't it?"
Xander grunted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tell me about it. I think that's what a cockroach must feel like when it's being sucked up by a vacuum cleaner." He nodded his head toward the statue. "Looks like one of those Egyptian Sphinx's, or whatever the hell those dog-faced things are called."
Riley touched the walls and he could actually feel heat coming from them. "I've never seen anything like this. These walls are somehow producing heat and light. I wonder how it works."
"Beats me, but whoever lives here must save a lot on the electric bills." He looked around. "Just look at this place, Finn. Like something out of Indiana Jones. Hey, maybe we're in King Tutt's tomb."
Everywhere they looked, there was a statue or other ancient relic. The walls were covered with drawings. There were four doorways to the room they were in, shaped like square arches. One of the doorway's was blocked by a large pile of stones and debris. The other three were clear and open.
"Now this is interesting," Xander replied thoughtfully. "There's an underground labyrinth directly beneath Allentown. Maybe these people worship Almighty Ra, the Sun God. I'll bet the whole town is some kind of a cult, and they come down here for orgies and sacrifices."
Riley pointed at a stone table. "Maybe. Look at that."
The table was in front of a wall, and on the wall above them was a statue that looked to be made of pure gold. The statue was made into the image of the sun. The Hunters stepped toward the table.
Riley noticed the blood first. "Xander, your theory just might be correct. This blood is dry, but someone obviously died on this altar."
Xander gripped his Uzi. "I was only grasping at straws."
"We'd better call this in." Hr grabbed his radio. "Riley to base. Come in, Giles."
There was no response.
"Giles, do you read?"
Silence.
Xander glanced up at the ceiling. "Maybe we're deeper underground than we thought."
Riley agreed, but then he frowned as a thought occurred to him. "Or maybe we're not in Allentown any more."
Xander frowned at him. "That's impossible, Finn. Just beyond the portal is the other room we came from. Beyond that is the trap door we found, and then that leads on up to the barn where you and I did the tango with Mr. Ed."
"Think about it," Riley argued. "The ground rules on the computer we found said that this was a doorway to other dimensions."
"Bogus!"
"Bogus?"
"It's all a trick, Finn. Smoke and mirrors."
"Why can't I raise Giles then?"
Xander shrugged. "I don't know. There must be some kind of interference here."
Riley let out a sigh. "No, Xander. Something's different about this place. I can feel it. I don't believe there are any tricks involved here."
"It is a trick." Xander paused. "Look, there's only one person I can think of who could pull something like this off. You know who I mean." He looked at Riley. "Ethan Rayne."
"You think Rayne's behind this?"
"Who else?" Xander glanced around. "I say we go back to the others and give Giles our report." He shrugged. "Then we can come back and look around."
Riley nodded. "Alright. Sounds like a plan. Let's do it."
The Hunters approached the portal together, and they stepped through it. Literally. However, nothing happened. There was no roller coaster ride, no streaking stars; there was nothing. They never even left the room.
Xander and Riley looked at each other.
"Now what?" Xander exclaimed.
Riley was thinking hard about their situation, working things out in his mind. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Hey, what's with that anyway?" Xander asked, interrupting his own reading. "Riley gets to think things through and I just jump to conclusions?" He looked at Dawn, Buffy, and Anya. "I don't do that, do I?"
They shook their heads. "Oh, no." "Nope." "Of course not! Don't be so silly."
He looked at them. "Okay. So that's what you think."
"That's not what we think," Buffy reassured him. "Just read."
Xander gave them one last look, then he continued with the story.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) "Alright, this is like some kind of game," Riley said, "and the ground rules mentioned something about it having to be completed. So maybe the portal won't let us back until we finish the game."
"We came looking for answers," Xander growled, "but all we're finding is more riddles."
"Try your radio."
Xander did, but to no effect. "It works, but it's not getting anything."
"We can still talk to each other."
Xander regarded him. "What do you have in mind?"
Riley indicated the doors. "Pick one."
Xander frowned. "You want to split up?"
"We can search quicker that way."
"Other than Willow, what the hell are we looking for?"
"Clues. Whoever came up with this Paradox Game must be leaving clues behind. We're not going to get anywhere unless we look for them. The people who disappeared from Allentown have to be down here somewhere. They've just got to be, and sooner or later, we'll run into some of them."
"Finn, you act like you don't believe we're under Allentown."
Riley shrugged. "Maybe we are. I just have a funny feeling in my gut. It says we're not on the map any more. Period."
"Trust me. We're under Allentown." He let out a sigh. "And I'll take the door on the left."
Riley gave a slight nod. "I'll take the right. We can meet back here later and take the door in the center together."
Xander nodded. "Contact me if you need any help. There may be more of those Centaur's around, sniffing out the nearest glue factory." (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Excuse me," Buffy said as she raised her hand.
Xander stopped reading and looked at her.
"I don't get it. Would someone explain the joke?"
"You mean about the glue factory?" He opened his mouth to respond, but Anya beat him to it.
"A glue factory is where horse fairy's make glue," Anya began, happy to be helping Buffy understand the way of things, "and back when time began, its where horses went to have their horseshoes glued permanently to their hooves. That's how they got their horseshoes, you know."
"What is a horse fairy?" Dawn asked hesitantly.
"It's a magical being who cares for horses."
Buffy, Dawn, and Xander just looked at her.
"Uh, Xander..." Buffy began, "please read."
Xander read.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) "You do the same," Riley told him.
The Hunters wished each other luck, and they split up.
Riley was fascinated by the walls. As he followed along the corridor he was in, the walls produced heat and light. Ahead of him was darkness, but with each step he took, light came from off the wall. It was as if it sensed his presence. He didn't know how such a thing could be possible, yet he was more than certain it wasn't an invention by humans. Earth did not have this kind of technology.
Along the corridor he walked, there were rooms to the right and left of him. Most of them were empty, but some were furnished with the statues he had seen upon their arrival. Some of the rooms had what appeared to be Egyptian coffins.
The corridor began to change as Riley realized he was walking up a slight incline. The direction of the corridor was going upward. At that point, Riley wondered if Xander was right all along. They had to be under Allentown, and this tunnel might be leading him back out to the surface. It was, after all, a possibility.
Unfortunately, the corridor eventually led him into something he had not considered.
A dead end. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Buffy frowned. "Poor Riley."
Xander looked at her. "Hey, what about his partner? You know, the smarter one, the cool, calm one. The really true hero of our story. Did you forget about him?"
"I didn't," Dawn said.
Anya smiled wistfully. "I didn't either, but then again, Rupert isn't in this chapter, is he?"
Buffy, Dawn, and Xander looked at her.
Xander didn't have to be told twice. He began to read again.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Xander discovered rooms similar to the rooms which Riley had found. However, there was one small difference. Every now and then, Xander would see movement from out of the corner of his eye, but whenever he turned his head to see what caused the movement, there wouldn't be anything there. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Xander looked at Buffy.
"What?" she inquired.
He pouted. "No, 'Poor Xander'? Riley gets a dead end, but I get to see things that aren't there. How come I don't get a 'Poor Xander'?"
In unison, the three girls said, "Poor Xander." Then they all laughed.
Xander smiled at them, enjoying the fellowship they were having, and he proceeded to read.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) As he passed a room, he thought he heard something coming from inside. He stopped, paused in the doorway, and listened as he kept his Uzi at the ready. He strained to listen.
Nothing. Not a sound.
Maybe it was just his imagination. Shrugging, he turned to leave, but there it was again. It sounded like a whisper.
He turned his head and peered cautiously into the room. Once again, he was greeted by silence. He stepped into the room and looked at a statue on the far wall.
"Well..." he said, turning his head to look at the two Egyptian coffins. He softly began to sing. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Can you do that?" Dawn asked.
Xander shrugged. "I did once."
"Remember Sweets, and, well, my bunny song?" Anya asked her.
Dawn grimaced. "Please...I'm trying to forget like it never happened."
Anya looked at her.
Buffy tried not to laugh.
Xander took the safest way out and began to read what his character was singing.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) "'We're living here in Allentown, and we're burning all the factories down.'"
Xander took a step toward the coffins where the whispering came from. He took another step...and the whispering stopped. He turned his head, looking at the statue. "Hey, ugly...did you say something?"
The statue did not.
Something was wrong. Xander had a very bad feeling about this place. He walked right up to the statue and examined it closely.
/scrape, scrape, shish.../
Now what the hell was that? he wondered. Frowning, he turned his head, looked at the coffins, and froze. One of the covers was beginning to slide open. At least that explained the whispering noises, but what wanted to come out?
Xander leveled the Uzi at the coffin. He was horrified and he wanted to make a run for the door, but at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to move. Damn his curiosity any way!
A hand came out of the small opening of the coffin, and tried to slide the cover open further. The hand, Xander noticed, was not decayed or rotten as he would think one would find in a coffin, but it was smooth and slender. It was a young woman's hand.
A groan came from the coffin.
Not an evil, groan of the dead kind of groan. This sounded as if someone had just woken up from a very long nap. Xander frowned. The fear was gone only to be replaced by an uncertainty.
"No..." he said hoarsely, "it can't be."
He hurried to the coffin, grabbed the cover with both hands- letting his Uzi dangle from his shoulder by its strap- and shoved it off with a loud crash. He found himself staring at the beautiful red headed woman inside, who was very much alive.
"Willow..." he breathed.
Willow screamed. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Xander stared at the pages. His hands gripped the book as he thought about the girl he so very much wanted to be with.
"Xander," Buffy said softly.
He looked at her.
"Willow will come back to us. Giles will see to that."
He smiled wearily. "Yeah...I know."
"Are you okay?" Dawn asked.
He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine." He cleared his throat again, and continued.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) A dead end. Riley frowned. There was nothing he could do now but turn around and go back the way he came. He hoped Xander was having more luck in finding clues than he was. He turned and began to head back, but he didn't see the large rock sticking up from the floor. He stepped on it, lost his balance, and stumbled forward. He put his hands out in front of him and managed to catch himself from falling by leaning against the wall, but he still fell onto one knee.
Cursing his own carelessness, he straightened and dusted himself off. Suddenly there was a loud clanking sound, followed by a low rumble coming from directly behind him. The corridor was also getting brighter.
Riley slowly turned around and he found himself staring. The dead end turned out to be a trap door, and the rock he had stepped on had somehow activated it. It was open and a way out now presented itself to Riley.
The Hunter couldn't bring himself to move. All he could do was stand there and stare in awe at the sight before him. He was one hundred percent certain that he and Xander were no longer in Allentown because this place was in the middle of a desert.
"Toto," he said softly to himself, "we are definitely not in Kansas any more."
He stepped outside and looked up. His eyes widened and he was so stunned by what he saw, he dropped to his knees, mouth open in disbelief.
Meanwhile--(TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"What?!" Buffy, Dawn, and Anya exclaimed at the same time.
Xander jumped. "Hey! What are you doing, shouting like that? I'm right here, so there's no need for that tone with me."
"What did Riley see?" Buffy demanded.
Dawn looked flustered. "Yeah! You can't tell us he saw something, and then go on to the next page without telling us what he saw! That's cruel."
Xander looked through the pages. "It doesn't say what he saw. I'm sure it will later."
"Well, flip through it and find it," Anya told him. "Then tell us what he saw."
"That would be cheating."
"But it will end the madness," Buffy said.
Xander grinned. "No. Now you three are just gonna have to sit there and behave, 'cause I'm not skipping ahead to see what old Riley saw." He was looking at what was coming up next. "Oh, boy. Jonathan sure does have one wild imagination."
The three women watched him. He was reading it, but not out loud. They were watching his face and knew he was reading about Willow. He was so absorbed he almost forgot they were there.
"Xander?" Buffy said softly.
He looked at her. "Hmmm?"
"Would you and the book like to be alone?"
"What? Oh, no! No, I'm fine."
"You're breathing kind of heavy," Anya pointed out. "Are your palms sweaty?"
Xander chuckled. "What are you talking about?"
"We want you to continue," Dawn said.
Buffy raised a warning finger at Xander. "Is this next part PG-13? 'Cause if it isn't, you'd better think about Dawnie."
"Hey, I've seen things on cable...and on the computer." Dawn smiled. "I'm not as ignorant as you may think."
Buffy frowned. "You saw something on the computer."
Xander looked at Buffy and shook his head. Get off the subject please, he seemed to say silently. He glanced at Anya, who was trying to look invisible.
"Never mind." Buffy smiled. "Read, Xander." She pointed. "Keep it clean."
"I didn't write this," he reminded her.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Willow screamed.
She woke up from a deep sleep, found herself in a coffin, and tried desperately to escape. The cover came off, and with renewed air in her lungs, she screamed. Someone had her up on her feet and was shaking her by the shoulders, calling her name.
She opened her eyes. It was Xander!
Xander smiled. "Hey, it's okay, you're--"
Willow slapped him.(TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Xander blinked as if Willow actually had slapped him. He reached his hand up to his face and touched the scars there. Scars Willow had given him on the Bluff. "I didn't see that coming," he said.
Buffy laughed. "You probably deserved it, tough guy."
"Let's find out, Xander," Dawn encouraged.
Xander went back to the story.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Then, she hugged him. She wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him on the lips. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Buffy, Dawn, and Anya cheered and applauded. Xander blushed and hid behind the book. He cleared his throat and tried to read, finally succeeding.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Xander held her to him, responding to the kiss, but also wondering what the hell that slap was for. When he held her at arms length, he was in for another shock. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Are we ever gonna get through this chapter?" Dawn asked.
Buffy laughed. "Xander, why is your face red?"
Anya looked at him. "Are you going to tell us she's naked?"
The girls broke into laughter as Xander tried to keep his composure. As he read, he could picture Willow actually being in his arms and he realized more than anything, he wanted it to be a reality.
He smiled sheepishly and shook his head. "No, Willow's not naked."
"You're thinking about her, aren't you?" Dawn asked.
"Hey, just never you mind what I'm thinking. I'll keep my thoughts locked safely away in the vault, thank you very much. Now do you want to know what's going on, or what? Are we done here?"
"Read!" they said in unison.
"Alright, but no interruptions." Xander found where he had left off.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Xander was stunned to see that Willow was scantily dressed- like Xena- and just looking at her, and being so close to her made it almost impossible to concentrate. He took a deep breath and looked at her face.
"What am I doing here?!" Willow exclaimed. "What, how...Xander, where are we?" She looked around as she kept her hands on his shoulder.
"I don't know what you're doing here or how you got here, Will," he told her. "We came here looking for you. You've been missing for several days." He looked at her with concern. "You don't remember how you got here?"
She frowned and shook her head. "No. I-I don't know how I got here." She looked into his eyes. "Where is here, Xander?"
"There are tunnels beneath Allentown. That's where we are. Look, what is the last thing you remember?"
She paused to think about it. "I-I was at a Computer Science Conference in Boston. I remember feeling sick, and-and I left the Conference hall. I went back to my room and passed out on the floor. At-at least I think I did." She looked at him. "Then I woke up here and..." She looked down at herself. "Uh, where are my clothes, Xander? What's going on?"
"Do you recall seeing anyone at the conference who could be responsible for this? Did anything out of the ordinary happen?"
"No." Willow shook her head. "I--Wait! I-I think I did see someone. Rayne. Ethan Rayne."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Xander nodded thoughtfully. "Well, at least this confirms my suspicions. Rayne's behind this whole thing." He paused. "He's managed to involve us into something he's calling the Paradox Game. Unfortunately, we still don't know what it's about and what his ultimate goal is."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Riley's with me. He's around here somewhere, and at the camp outside of Allentown, Giles and Willy are waiting for us to bring you back. Hold on a sec." He grabbed his radio. "Finn. It's Xander. Come in."
There was no response.
"Finn, knock, knock, buddy. Anybody home?"
Still nothing.
Xander let out a sigh. "Finn, I know there's no interference so just talk to me."
Willow tapped on his shoulder.
He looked at her. She pointed. He slowly turned around and looked. He didn't like what he saw.
"Xander..." Riley's voice finally came over his radio, "you're not going to believe what I found."
"Uh," Xander began, "well, I found Willow."
"Really? That's great! Is she okay?"
"Yeah. At least at the moment, we're both just peachy keen."
"What do you mean, 'at the moment'?"
Xander paused. "I found something else."
"What?"
"I found some Allens."
In the doorway, four men stood looking at Xander and Willow. The looks in their eyes was madness.
"The girl belongs to us," one of them said fiercely, "She's being prepared for Ra."
Xander shook his head and leveled his Uzi. "Ra Ra on that idea, pal, 'cause we're about to say 'Ta Ta!' In plain English, that means bye-bye."
They grinned at him.
Xander didn't have any time to wonder why these idiots were grinning. The floor beneath him and Willow suddenly disappeared. It was another trap door. They found themselves falling into a deep, dark pit.(TH)
- - - - - - - - - - -
"I really hope he lands on me," Xander said out loud, but he hadn't meant to.
Dawn giggled.
"Xander!" Anya and Buffy exclaimed.
"To break her fall!" he protested. "Get your minds out of the gutter."
- - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) When Riley had lost contact with Xander, he wasn't worried. He would simply use his watch-locator to track him down. The watch-locator was a technological wonder from the Hunters Hardsite. If Xander didn't lose his watch, Riley would be able to find him. Unfortunately, it would take him some time to find Xander and Willow. He hoped it wouldn't be too late.
While Riley was searching for his friends, Xander was slowly regaining consciousness. When he fully came to, he wished he hadn't. He was in a very large, cavernous room. His hands were shackled above his head, his ankles were bound together, and he was hanging above a burning, fiery pit.
This didn't look good at all.
On one side of the pit was a wall. On the other side, he could see about a hundred people dressed in robes with the hoods pulled up over their heads, and they were all kneeling before a raised altar. Upon that altar was Willow. She was lying upon the hard, cold surface; wrists shackled above her head, and ankles shackled.
This was definitely not good.
There were two tall, imposing figures standing on either side of the altar, as if standing guard. They were both huge. One of them looked like Conan, and the other guy was...well, Xander decided to call him Mr. Atlas.
Then he saw another man who was small, short, and losing his hair. This man kept his back toward Xander, his arms were raised to the heavens and he was chanting, or praying to a huge golden statue of the sun high above the altar upon the wall.
"Hey!" Xander shouted. "Little gnome!! Turn around and say something intelligent!"
The man stopped chanting. He turned around and looked at Xander with a wry smile. Actually, Xander was certain he had seen ferrets smile like that.
He stared in genuine surprise. "Principal Snyder!"(TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Principal Snyder?" Buffy demanded. "You're kidding me."
Xander turned the book over. "Wait, there's like a notation here on the side." He read it out loud, "'I tried to find the Principal's first name, but my attempts were unsuccessful. So I decided that since he's kind of like a villain anyway, he can call himself Principal Snyder in my story, too. Villains have a thing with names after all.'" Xander shuttered. "God, Jon! Just the thought of being bound before that Nazi little man gives me the willies!"
Buffy put her hand over her mouth and laughed.
Xander shook his head. "That's not funny."
Anya joined in. "Sure it is, Xander."
"No, really, it's not. In fact, it's down right revolting!"
"I want to know what Principal Snyder is going to do..." Dawn hesitated. Then she continued with, "uh, with Xander and Willow. Read, or hand the book over."
Xander read.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Principal Snyder laughed.
"No," Xander growled angrily. "I refuse to believe you're behind this Paradox Game! You're not smart enough to pull this off."
"I'm not?" The little man smiled. "I do have you and Rosenberg as captives, don't I?"
Xander paused. "You have a point."
"Of course, I do. As for the one behind the Paradox Game?" He paused. "Why should I tell you anything about that? At this point, it doesn't really matter anyway, does it?"
"What do you mean?"
Snyder revealed a long, sharp knife and he leered down at Willow, lying unconscious on the altar. "For you and your precious girlfriend, it's over. I'm going to sacrifice her and Ra will take her soul." He looked over at Xander. "You'll watch, of course. After which you'll be released from above to drop into the flames of hell below." He shrugged. "As for Riley, well, we'll find him, and we'll take care of him as well."
Xander glared in frustration. "You won't get away with this!"
"Oh, yes, I will." Snyder stood above Willow and he raised the ceremonial knife above his head.
Xander couldn't do a damn thing. Suddenly, he saw a hooded person standing at the edge of the pit, away from the others. The person raised his hood just enough to allow Xander to see his face. Relief flooded through Xander as he saw it was Riley.
Riley mouthed the word, "Laugh."
So Xander did. He bellowed out a laugh of madness, causing the hooded worshippers, and Snyder to stop what they were doing, and look at him. They were unaware of Riley's presence and the Hunter tossed something into the fiery pit.
A thick, dark cloud suddenly rolled up from the pit and completely engulfed Xander. It was impossible to see through it, and Snyder was more than a bit annoyed by this unexpected interruption. He had no idea what caused it, but he so despised Xander and decided he would wait for the smoke to clear. One way or another, Xander would witness the death of his girl.
Five minutes or so later, the smoke finally cleared.
Snyder stared in astonishment.
Xander was gone.(TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Awesome!" Buffy exclaimed.
"Yeah, well," Xander began, "Jonathan Levenson better not hurt Willow in this book, or I'll find him myself and make him eat it."
"Is that the end of the chapter?" Anya asked.
Xander nodded. "Yeah."
"Let me read the next one."
He handed it to her. "Okay. But no ad-libbing. And no cheating."
"Let's get a refill on our drinks," Dawn said cheerfully.
They all went into the house and took a break.
***************************
TO BE CONTINUED--
"That's right." Buffy nodded.
"And Spike is a co-pilot?"
Dawn shook her head. "I think Spike is just one of the Hunters. I don't think he's a pilot."
"But he and Angel are friends, right?"
"Yeah, and I think Spike and Xander are keeping things confidential."
Anya frowned. "What do you mean?"
Xander said, "From what Buffy and Dawn told me, An, Xander-" he grins, "- that would be me- anyway, Xander has reason to believe Jon Levon is a spy or something, and he seems to have shared his suspicion's with Spike." He rubbed his forehead and scowled. "In reality, I'd rather put a stake in his heart than to confide with him about anything." He was thinking of what he had seen on the computer involving Anya and Spike, and he was also thinking about the attempted rape of Buffy. As far as he was concerned, Spike was number one at the top of his crapola list.
"Oh," Anya said meekly. She paused. "Well, why is Xander- I mean, why are you confiding with him then?"
Xander looked at her. "I'm not. My character in the book is. And I really don't know why 'cause we haven't even read the third chapter yet."
"Well, when are you going to read it?"
"When all of you kids settle down and bring the noise level down to a hush." He put his fingers to his lips. "Ssssh." He opened the book that Buffy had handed to him, thereby volunteering him to read the third chapter of the Hunters, written by Jonathan Levenson.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Chapter 3-To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Xander, c'mon! If you're going to read it, be serious. What's the real title?"
Xander glanced at her. "'Chapter 3- To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before'."
Dawn giggled. "I feel a little Trek coming on."
"I think Jonathan was a big Trekkie," Xander said. "Anyway, maybe the title of the chapter is just misleading."
"Well, read it then," Anya said anxiously. "I'd like to know where Man has gone boldly off to, especially since they've never been there before. Sounds kinda interesting."
Xander glanced at her. "Okay, An...here we go."
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) The Hunters had stepped through the portal, which they had begun to refer to as Paradox's Doorway. Going through the portal had felt like a roller coaster ride through a long tunnel of stars. It was fast and furious with billions of tiny, sparkling streaks of light that flashed by in an instant.
Riley came to a hard landing first. Landed was the word for it anyway for there was no other way to describe it. He came out of the portal, slammed into a wall, and crashed to the floor. At least he thought it was a wall and he was certain he was lying on the floor, but he couldn't really tell because it completely dark. The darkness was so thick, he thought he could slice through it with a knife.
Almost as soon as he had landed, something crashed into him, grunting, groaning, and cursing up a storm. It took a second for Riley to realize it was his partner and friend, Xander. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - -
Xander grinned. "Hey, I kinda like that. Me and Riley. Buds."
- - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Riley looked around, or at least tried to, but he still couldn't see a damn thing. "Hey," he groaned, "who turned out the lights?"
Suddenly, light slowly began to emit from the solid, cavernous walls around them. Rising to their feet, the Hunters began to look around. Riley slowly turned around, taking everything in until he came face to face with a hideous, snout-faced being with red eyes. He cried out in alarm, took a few quick steps back, and raised his Uzi to fire.
Then, he hesitated as he got a good look at the thing.
Xander laughed. "Lighten up, Power-Puff guy. It's only a statue."
"Man," Riley said, sighing in relief as he lowered his Uzi. He looked at Xander, and then pointed at the portal with his thumb. "Heluva ride, wasn't it?"
Xander grunted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tell me about it. I think that's what a cockroach must feel like when it's being sucked up by a vacuum cleaner." He nodded his head toward the statue. "Looks like one of those Egyptian Sphinx's, or whatever the hell those dog-faced things are called."
Riley touched the walls and he could actually feel heat coming from them. "I've never seen anything like this. These walls are somehow producing heat and light. I wonder how it works."
"Beats me, but whoever lives here must save a lot on the electric bills." He looked around. "Just look at this place, Finn. Like something out of Indiana Jones. Hey, maybe we're in King Tutt's tomb."
Everywhere they looked, there was a statue or other ancient relic. The walls were covered with drawings. There were four doorways to the room they were in, shaped like square arches. One of the doorway's was blocked by a large pile of stones and debris. The other three were clear and open.
"Now this is interesting," Xander replied thoughtfully. "There's an underground labyrinth directly beneath Allentown. Maybe these people worship Almighty Ra, the Sun God. I'll bet the whole town is some kind of a cult, and they come down here for orgies and sacrifices."
Riley pointed at a stone table. "Maybe. Look at that."
The table was in front of a wall, and on the wall above them was a statue that looked to be made of pure gold. The statue was made into the image of the sun. The Hunters stepped toward the table.
Riley noticed the blood first. "Xander, your theory just might be correct. This blood is dry, but someone obviously died on this altar."
Xander gripped his Uzi. "I was only grasping at straws."
"We'd better call this in." Hr grabbed his radio. "Riley to base. Come in, Giles."
There was no response.
"Giles, do you read?"
Silence.
Xander glanced up at the ceiling. "Maybe we're deeper underground than we thought."
Riley agreed, but then he frowned as a thought occurred to him. "Or maybe we're not in Allentown any more."
Xander frowned at him. "That's impossible, Finn. Just beyond the portal is the other room we came from. Beyond that is the trap door we found, and then that leads on up to the barn where you and I did the tango with Mr. Ed."
"Think about it," Riley argued. "The ground rules on the computer we found said that this was a doorway to other dimensions."
"Bogus!"
"Bogus?"
"It's all a trick, Finn. Smoke and mirrors."
"Why can't I raise Giles then?"
Xander shrugged. "I don't know. There must be some kind of interference here."
Riley let out a sigh. "No, Xander. Something's different about this place. I can feel it. I don't believe there are any tricks involved here."
"It is a trick." Xander paused. "Look, there's only one person I can think of who could pull something like this off. You know who I mean." He looked at Riley. "Ethan Rayne."
"You think Rayne's behind this?"
"Who else?" Xander glanced around. "I say we go back to the others and give Giles our report." He shrugged. "Then we can come back and look around."
Riley nodded. "Alright. Sounds like a plan. Let's do it."
The Hunters approached the portal together, and they stepped through it. Literally. However, nothing happened. There was no roller coaster ride, no streaking stars; there was nothing. They never even left the room.
Xander and Riley looked at each other.
"Now what?" Xander exclaimed.
Riley was thinking hard about their situation, working things out in his mind. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Hey, what's with that anyway?" Xander asked, interrupting his own reading. "Riley gets to think things through and I just jump to conclusions?" He looked at Dawn, Buffy, and Anya. "I don't do that, do I?"
They shook their heads. "Oh, no." "Nope." "Of course not! Don't be so silly."
He looked at them. "Okay. So that's what you think."
"That's not what we think," Buffy reassured him. "Just read."
Xander gave them one last look, then he continued with the story.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) "Alright, this is like some kind of game," Riley said, "and the ground rules mentioned something about it having to be completed. So maybe the portal won't let us back until we finish the game."
"We came looking for answers," Xander growled, "but all we're finding is more riddles."
"Try your radio."
Xander did, but to no effect. "It works, but it's not getting anything."
"We can still talk to each other."
Xander regarded him. "What do you have in mind?"
Riley indicated the doors. "Pick one."
Xander frowned. "You want to split up?"
"We can search quicker that way."
"Other than Willow, what the hell are we looking for?"
"Clues. Whoever came up with this Paradox Game must be leaving clues behind. We're not going to get anywhere unless we look for them. The people who disappeared from Allentown have to be down here somewhere. They've just got to be, and sooner or later, we'll run into some of them."
"Finn, you act like you don't believe we're under Allentown."
Riley shrugged. "Maybe we are. I just have a funny feeling in my gut. It says we're not on the map any more. Period."
"Trust me. We're under Allentown." He let out a sigh. "And I'll take the door on the left."
Riley gave a slight nod. "I'll take the right. We can meet back here later and take the door in the center together."
Xander nodded. "Contact me if you need any help. There may be more of those Centaur's around, sniffing out the nearest glue factory." (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Excuse me," Buffy said as she raised her hand.
Xander stopped reading and looked at her.
"I don't get it. Would someone explain the joke?"
"You mean about the glue factory?" He opened his mouth to respond, but Anya beat him to it.
"A glue factory is where horse fairy's make glue," Anya began, happy to be helping Buffy understand the way of things, "and back when time began, its where horses went to have their horseshoes glued permanently to their hooves. That's how they got their horseshoes, you know."
"What is a horse fairy?" Dawn asked hesitantly.
"It's a magical being who cares for horses."
Buffy, Dawn, and Xander just looked at her.
"Uh, Xander..." Buffy began, "please read."
Xander read.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) "You do the same," Riley told him.
The Hunters wished each other luck, and they split up.
Riley was fascinated by the walls. As he followed along the corridor he was in, the walls produced heat and light. Ahead of him was darkness, but with each step he took, light came from off the wall. It was as if it sensed his presence. He didn't know how such a thing could be possible, yet he was more than certain it wasn't an invention by humans. Earth did not have this kind of technology.
Along the corridor he walked, there were rooms to the right and left of him. Most of them were empty, but some were furnished with the statues he had seen upon their arrival. Some of the rooms had what appeared to be Egyptian coffins.
The corridor began to change as Riley realized he was walking up a slight incline. The direction of the corridor was going upward. At that point, Riley wondered if Xander was right all along. They had to be under Allentown, and this tunnel might be leading him back out to the surface. It was, after all, a possibility.
Unfortunately, the corridor eventually led him into something he had not considered.
A dead end. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Buffy frowned. "Poor Riley."
Xander looked at her. "Hey, what about his partner? You know, the smarter one, the cool, calm one. The really true hero of our story. Did you forget about him?"
"I didn't," Dawn said.
Anya smiled wistfully. "I didn't either, but then again, Rupert isn't in this chapter, is he?"
Buffy, Dawn, and Xander looked at her.
Xander didn't have to be told twice. He began to read again.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Xander discovered rooms similar to the rooms which Riley had found. However, there was one small difference. Every now and then, Xander would see movement from out of the corner of his eye, but whenever he turned his head to see what caused the movement, there wouldn't be anything there. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Xander looked at Buffy.
"What?" she inquired.
He pouted. "No, 'Poor Xander'? Riley gets a dead end, but I get to see things that aren't there. How come I don't get a 'Poor Xander'?"
In unison, the three girls said, "Poor Xander." Then they all laughed.
Xander smiled at them, enjoying the fellowship they were having, and he proceeded to read.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) As he passed a room, he thought he heard something coming from inside. He stopped, paused in the doorway, and listened as he kept his Uzi at the ready. He strained to listen.
Nothing. Not a sound.
Maybe it was just his imagination. Shrugging, he turned to leave, but there it was again. It sounded like a whisper.
He turned his head and peered cautiously into the room. Once again, he was greeted by silence. He stepped into the room and looked at a statue on the far wall.
"Well..." he said, turning his head to look at the two Egyptian coffins. He softly began to sing. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Can you do that?" Dawn asked.
Xander shrugged. "I did once."
"Remember Sweets, and, well, my bunny song?" Anya asked her.
Dawn grimaced. "Please...I'm trying to forget like it never happened."
Anya looked at her.
Buffy tried not to laugh.
Xander took the safest way out and began to read what his character was singing.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) "'We're living here in Allentown, and we're burning all the factories down.'"
Xander took a step toward the coffins where the whispering came from. He took another step...and the whispering stopped. He turned his head, looking at the statue. "Hey, ugly...did you say something?"
The statue did not.
Something was wrong. Xander had a very bad feeling about this place. He walked right up to the statue and examined it closely.
/scrape, scrape, shish.../
Now what the hell was that? he wondered. Frowning, he turned his head, looked at the coffins, and froze. One of the covers was beginning to slide open. At least that explained the whispering noises, but what wanted to come out?
Xander leveled the Uzi at the coffin. He was horrified and he wanted to make a run for the door, but at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to move. Damn his curiosity any way!
A hand came out of the small opening of the coffin, and tried to slide the cover open further. The hand, Xander noticed, was not decayed or rotten as he would think one would find in a coffin, but it was smooth and slender. It was a young woman's hand.
A groan came from the coffin.
Not an evil, groan of the dead kind of groan. This sounded as if someone had just woken up from a very long nap. Xander frowned. The fear was gone only to be replaced by an uncertainty.
"No..." he said hoarsely, "it can't be."
He hurried to the coffin, grabbed the cover with both hands- letting his Uzi dangle from his shoulder by its strap- and shoved it off with a loud crash. He found himself staring at the beautiful red headed woman inside, who was very much alive.
"Willow..." he breathed.
Willow screamed. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Xander stared at the pages. His hands gripped the book as he thought about the girl he so very much wanted to be with.
"Xander," Buffy said softly.
He looked at her.
"Willow will come back to us. Giles will see to that."
He smiled wearily. "Yeah...I know."
"Are you okay?" Dawn asked.
He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine." He cleared his throat again, and continued.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) A dead end. Riley frowned. There was nothing he could do now but turn around and go back the way he came. He hoped Xander was having more luck in finding clues than he was. He turned and began to head back, but he didn't see the large rock sticking up from the floor. He stepped on it, lost his balance, and stumbled forward. He put his hands out in front of him and managed to catch himself from falling by leaning against the wall, but he still fell onto one knee.
Cursing his own carelessness, he straightened and dusted himself off. Suddenly there was a loud clanking sound, followed by a low rumble coming from directly behind him. The corridor was also getting brighter.
Riley slowly turned around and he found himself staring. The dead end turned out to be a trap door, and the rock he had stepped on had somehow activated it. It was open and a way out now presented itself to Riley.
The Hunter couldn't bring himself to move. All he could do was stand there and stare in awe at the sight before him. He was one hundred percent certain that he and Xander were no longer in Allentown because this place was in the middle of a desert.
"Toto," he said softly to himself, "we are definitely not in Kansas any more."
He stepped outside and looked up. His eyes widened and he was so stunned by what he saw, he dropped to his knees, mouth open in disbelief.
Meanwhile--(TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"What?!" Buffy, Dawn, and Anya exclaimed at the same time.
Xander jumped. "Hey! What are you doing, shouting like that? I'm right here, so there's no need for that tone with me."
"What did Riley see?" Buffy demanded.
Dawn looked flustered. "Yeah! You can't tell us he saw something, and then go on to the next page without telling us what he saw! That's cruel."
Xander looked through the pages. "It doesn't say what he saw. I'm sure it will later."
"Well, flip through it and find it," Anya told him. "Then tell us what he saw."
"That would be cheating."
"But it will end the madness," Buffy said.
Xander grinned. "No. Now you three are just gonna have to sit there and behave, 'cause I'm not skipping ahead to see what old Riley saw." He was looking at what was coming up next. "Oh, boy. Jonathan sure does have one wild imagination."
The three women watched him. He was reading it, but not out loud. They were watching his face and knew he was reading about Willow. He was so absorbed he almost forgot they were there.
"Xander?" Buffy said softly.
He looked at her. "Hmmm?"
"Would you and the book like to be alone?"
"What? Oh, no! No, I'm fine."
"You're breathing kind of heavy," Anya pointed out. "Are your palms sweaty?"
Xander chuckled. "What are you talking about?"
"We want you to continue," Dawn said.
Buffy raised a warning finger at Xander. "Is this next part PG-13? 'Cause if it isn't, you'd better think about Dawnie."
"Hey, I've seen things on cable...and on the computer." Dawn smiled. "I'm not as ignorant as you may think."
Buffy frowned. "You saw something on the computer."
Xander looked at Buffy and shook his head. Get off the subject please, he seemed to say silently. He glanced at Anya, who was trying to look invisible.
"Never mind." Buffy smiled. "Read, Xander." She pointed. "Keep it clean."
"I didn't write this," he reminded her.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Willow screamed.
She woke up from a deep sleep, found herself in a coffin, and tried desperately to escape. The cover came off, and with renewed air in her lungs, she screamed. Someone had her up on her feet and was shaking her by the shoulders, calling her name.
She opened her eyes. It was Xander!
Xander smiled. "Hey, it's okay, you're--"
Willow slapped him.(TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Xander blinked as if Willow actually had slapped him. He reached his hand up to his face and touched the scars there. Scars Willow had given him on the Bluff. "I didn't see that coming," he said.
Buffy laughed. "You probably deserved it, tough guy."
"Let's find out, Xander," Dawn encouraged.
Xander went back to the story.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Then, she hugged him. She wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him on the lips. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Buffy, Dawn, and Anya cheered and applauded. Xander blushed and hid behind the book. He cleared his throat and tried to read, finally succeeding.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Xander held her to him, responding to the kiss, but also wondering what the hell that slap was for. When he held her at arms length, he was in for another shock. (TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Are we ever gonna get through this chapter?" Dawn asked.
Buffy laughed. "Xander, why is your face red?"
Anya looked at him. "Are you going to tell us she's naked?"
The girls broke into laughter as Xander tried to keep his composure. As he read, he could picture Willow actually being in his arms and he realized more than anything, he wanted it to be a reality.
He smiled sheepishly and shook his head. "No, Willow's not naked."
"You're thinking about her, aren't you?" Dawn asked.
"Hey, just never you mind what I'm thinking. I'll keep my thoughts locked safely away in the vault, thank you very much. Now do you want to know what's going on, or what? Are we done here?"
"Read!" they said in unison.
"Alright, but no interruptions." Xander found where he had left off.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Xander was stunned to see that Willow was scantily dressed- like Xena- and just looking at her, and being so close to her made it almost impossible to concentrate. He took a deep breath and looked at her face.
"What am I doing here?!" Willow exclaimed. "What, how...Xander, where are we?" She looked around as she kept her hands on his shoulder.
"I don't know what you're doing here or how you got here, Will," he told her. "We came here looking for you. You've been missing for several days." He looked at her with concern. "You don't remember how you got here?"
She frowned and shook her head. "No. I-I don't know how I got here." She looked into his eyes. "Where is here, Xander?"
"There are tunnels beneath Allentown. That's where we are. Look, what is the last thing you remember?"
She paused to think about it. "I-I was at a Computer Science Conference in Boston. I remember feeling sick, and-and I left the Conference hall. I went back to my room and passed out on the floor. At-at least I think I did." She looked at him. "Then I woke up here and..." She looked down at herself. "Uh, where are my clothes, Xander? What's going on?"
"Do you recall seeing anyone at the conference who could be responsible for this? Did anything out of the ordinary happen?"
"No." Willow shook her head. "I--Wait! I-I think I did see someone. Rayne. Ethan Rayne."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Xander nodded thoughtfully. "Well, at least this confirms my suspicions. Rayne's behind this whole thing." He paused. "He's managed to involve us into something he's calling the Paradox Game. Unfortunately, we still don't know what it's about and what his ultimate goal is."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Riley's with me. He's around here somewhere, and at the camp outside of Allentown, Giles and Willy are waiting for us to bring you back. Hold on a sec." He grabbed his radio. "Finn. It's Xander. Come in."
There was no response.
"Finn, knock, knock, buddy. Anybody home?"
Still nothing.
Xander let out a sigh. "Finn, I know there's no interference so just talk to me."
Willow tapped on his shoulder.
He looked at her. She pointed. He slowly turned around and looked. He didn't like what he saw.
"Xander..." Riley's voice finally came over his radio, "you're not going to believe what I found."
"Uh," Xander began, "well, I found Willow."
"Really? That's great! Is she okay?"
"Yeah. At least at the moment, we're both just peachy keen."
"What do you mean, 'at the moment'?"
Xander paused. "I found something else."
"What?"
"I found some Allens."
In the doorway, four men stood looking at Xander and Willow. The looks in their eyes was madness.
"The girl belongs to us," one of them said fiercely, "She's being prepared for Ra."
Xander shook his head and leveled his Uzi. "Ra Ra on that idea, pal, 'cause we're about to say 'Ta Ta!' In plain English, that means bye-bye."
They grinned at him.
Xander didn't have any time to wonder why these idiots were grinning. The floor beneath him and Willow suddenly disappeared. It was another trap door. They found themselves falling into a deep, dark pit.(TH)
- - - - - - - - - - -
"I really hope he lands on me," Xander said out loud, but he hadn't meant to.
Dawn giggled.
"Xander!" Anya and Buffy exclaimed.
"To break her fall!" he protested. "Get your minds out of the gutter."
- - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) When Riley had lost contact with Xander, he wasn't worried. He would simply use his watch-locator to track him down. The watch-locator was a technological wonder from the Hunters Hardsite. If Xander didn't lose his watch, Riley would be able to find him. Unfortunately, it would take him some time to find Xander and Willow. He hoped it wouldn't be too late.
While Riley was searching for his friends, Xander was slowly regaining consciousness. When he fully came to, he wished he hadn't. He was in a very large, cavernous room. His hands were shackled above his head, his ankles were bound together, and he was hanging above a burning, fiery pit.
This didn't look good at all.
On one side of the pit was a wall. On the other side, he could see about a hundred people dressed in robes with the hoods pulled up over their heads, and they were all kneeling before a raised altar. Upon that altar was Willow. She was lying upon the hard, cold surface; wrists shackled above her head, and ankles shackled.
This was definitely not good.
There were two tall, imposing figures standing on either side of the altar, as if standing guard. They were both huge. One of them looked like Conan, and the other guy was...well, Xander decided to call him Mr. Atlas.
Then he saw another man who was small, short, and losing his hair. This man kept his back toward Xander, his arms were raised to the heavens and he was chanting, or praying to a huge golden statue of the sun high above the altar upon the wall.
"Hey!" Xander shouted. "Little gnome!! Turn around and say something intelligent!"
The man stopped chanting. He turned around and looked at Xander with a wry smile. Actually, Xander was certain he had seen ferrets smile like that.
He stared in genuine surprise. "Principal Snyder!"(TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Principal Snyder?" Buffy demanded. "You're kidding me."
Xander turned the book over. "Wait, there's like a notation here on the side." He read it out loud, "'I tried to find the Principal's first name, but my attempts were unsuccessful. So I decided that since he's kind of like a villain anyway, he can call himself Principal Snyder in my story, too. Villains have a thing with names after all.'" Xander shuttered. "God, Jon! Just the thought of being bound before that Nazi little man gives me the willies!"
Buffy put her hand over her mouth and laughed.
Xander shook his head. "That's not funny."
Anya joined in. "Sure it is, Xander."
"No, really, it's not. In fact, it's down right revolting!"
"I want to know what Principal Snyder is going to do..." Dawn hesitated. Then she continued with, "uh, with Xander and Willow. Read, or hand the book over."
Xander read.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(TH) Principal Snyder laughed.
"No," Xander growled angrily. "I refuse to believe you're behind this Paradox Game! You're not smart enough to pull this off."
"I'm not?" The little man smiled. "I do have you and Rosenberg as captives, don't I?"
Xander paused. "You have a point."
"Of course, I do. As for the one behind the Paradox Game?" He paused. "Why should I tell you anything about that? At this point, it doesn't really matter anyway, does it?"
"What do you mean?"
Snyder revealed a long, sharp knife and he leered down at Willow, lying unconscious on the altar. "For you and your precious girlfriend, it's over. I'm going to sacrifice her and Ra will take her soul." He looked over at Xander. "You'll watch, of course. After which you'll be released from above to drop into the flames of hell below." He shrugged. "As for Riley, well, we'll find him, and we'll take care of him as well."
Xander glared in frustration. "You won't get away with this!"
"Oh, yes, I will." Snyder stood above Willow and he raised the ceremonial knife above his head.
Xander couldn't do a damn thing. Suddenly, he saw a hooded person standing at the edge of the pit, away from the others. The person raised his hood just enough to allow Xander to see his face. Relief flooded through Xander as he saw it was Riley.
Riley mouthed the word, "Laugh."
So Xander did. He bellowed out a laugh of madness, causing the hooded worshippers, and Snyder to stop what they were doing, and look at him. They were unaware of Riley's presence and the Hunter tossed something into the fiery pit.
A thick, dark cloud suddenly rolled up from the pit and completely engulfed Xander. It was impossible to see through it, and Snyder was more than a bit annoyed by this unexpected interruption. He had no idea what caused it, but he so despised Xander and decided he would wait for the smoke to clear. One way or another, Xander would witness the death of his girl.
Five minutes or so later, the smoke finally cleared.
Snyder stared in astonishment.
Xander was gone.(TH)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Awesome!" Buffy exclaimed.
"Yeah, well," Xander began, "Jonathan Levenson better not hurt Willow in this book, or I'll find him myself and make him eat it."
"Is that the end of the chapter?" Anya asked.
Xander nodded. "Yeah."
"Let me read the next one."
He handed it to her. "Okay. But no ad-libbing. And no cheating."
"Let's get a refill on our drinks," Dawn said cheerfully.
They all went into the house and took a break.
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TO BE CONTINUED--